Activists petition Control Yuan to probe beach resort

Staff writer, with CNA

Sat, Nov 10, 2012 - Page 4

Environmental activists filed a petition yesterday asking the Control Yuan to probe a long-disputed resort development in Taitung on what was once one of Taiwan’s most beautiful beaches.

The activists also called for the impeachment of officials they accused of failing to fulfill their duties.

The activists, including representatives of Citizens of the Earth and the Green Party, were making their sixth visit in four years to the Control Yuan, demanding an investigation into the construction of the Miramar Resort Village on Shanyuan Bay (杉原灣).

Tsai Chung-yueh (蔡中岳) of Citizens of the Earth said previous petitions went unanswered because the Control Yuan would not take any action until a final Supreme Administrative Court ruling on the case.

In September, the court ordered the developer to halt construction, eight months after it invalidated an environmental impact assessment for the project.

Now the court has ruled the construction illegal, the Control Yuan should begin an investigation as soon as possible, Tsai said. Control Yuan member Chou Yang-shan (周陽山) has accepted the latest petition and promised to start proceedings based on the law, Tsai added.

Environmental protection groups have since demanded the demolition of the buildings already constructed, insisting that a development project of environmental concern should not be allowed to proceed without passing environmental impact assessments by independent professionals.

This demand has been rejected by the Taitung County Government, which said the ruling does not mean that the buildings already constructed should be demolished.

The county government insists the project has followed legal procedure since construction began in 2005 and that it is waiting for a new environmental impact evaluation.

The resort project is a build-operate-transfer project by the county and Urban Development Co.